UESLEI MARCELINO / Reuters
More Americans Oppose Edward Snowden's Actions Than Support Them
More
Americans oppose Edward Snowden’s decision to flee the U.S. with
thousands of stolen documents and reveal confidential details about the
National Security Agency’s surveillance programs than those who support
his actions, according to a new NBC News poll.
The findings come in the wake of “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams’ wide-ranging, exclusive interview with Snowden,
which aired on NBC primetime last Wednesday. Yet, the nation’s opinion
of the former government contractor turned world’s most wanted man
changes significantly by age.
Younger respondents
have a more favorable opinion of the former NSA contractor, while older
respondents are more disapproving, the poll reveals.
That could very well
explain the reaction on social media, where many said they viewed him as
patriot. “He informed the public w/ evidence of the US gov't and
associated agencies of their wrong doing under the guise of nat'l
security,” said one supporter on Twitter.
Others weren’t as
positive, as another voice on Twitter said, "There are legal ways of
bringing that info to light without risking national security and then
heading to a no-extradition country."
The reactions came
after Snowden sat down for his first U.S. television interview since the
NSA revelations became public. The interview was arranged with great
secrecy as Snowden is living in Russia at an undisclosed location under a
temporary one-year amnesty from the Russian government. Williams and
Snowden met at the upscale Hotel Baltschug Kempinski in central Moscow,
near the Kremlin.
NBC News
In the NBC News poll, 24
percent said they back Snowden’s release of information about how
government agencies collect intelligence data to media outlets, compared
with 34 percent who disagree with his actions.
Another 40 percent said
they didn’t have an opinion. Yet among those who say they’ve closely
followed the story, 49 percent oppose Snowden’s actions and 33 percent
support them.
The poll shows a
striking difference of opinion in Snowden by age. Those ages 18 to 34
tend support Snowden’s actions, by 32 percent to 20 percent, and view
him a favorable light, compared with all other age groups who don’t.
The overall numbers are
essentially unchanged from a January 2014 NBC News/Wall Street Journal
poll, when 23 percent of registered voters said they supported Snowden’s
actions, versus 38 percent who opposed them.
The documents stolen by
Snowden and then released to journalists disclosed the global reach of
U.S. intelligence, including descriptions of government surveillance of
U.S. telephone and email records, tapping of undersea fiber-optic cables
carrying internet traffic, and accessing Yahoo and Google’s internal
user data without either company’s knowledge.
"His disclosures have
damaged the security of this country and I'm not going to get into a
point-by-point inventory of the specifics of how he’s done that,"
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" on
Sunday.
"There is plenty of evidence he did damage to the security of this country."
But in the interview
with Williams, Snowden said he viewed himself as a patriot. "I may have
lost my ability to travel," he said. "But I've gained the ability to go
to sleep at night and to put my head on the pillow and feel comfortable
that I've done the right thing even when it was the hard thing. And I'm
comfortable with that."
Snowden also said he
wanted to back home to the United States. “I don't think there's ever
been any question that I'd like to go home. I mean, I've from day one
said that I'm doing this to serve my country.”
Snowden’s interview
also produced a pointed response from the Obama administration. “If Mr.
Snowden wants to come back to the United States today, we'll have him on
a flight today. We’d be delighted for him to come back,” Secretary of
State John Kerry said on NBC’s Today Show. “And he should come back and
-- and that’s what a patriot would do. A patriot would not run away and
look for refuge in Russia or Cuba or some other country. A patriot would
stand up in the United States and make his case to the American
people.”
The NBC poll finds
Americans -- by a 2-to-1 margin – view Snowden in a negative light: 27
percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion of him, while 13 percent
have a positive one.
By comparison, a July 2013 NBC/WSJ poll showed opinions on Snowden as 36 percent negative, 11 percent positive.
The NBC poll was
conducted by the Democratic firm Hart Research Associates and the
Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies of 800 registered
voters (including 240 reached by cell phone) from May 27-29. It has a
margin of error of plus-minus 3.5 percentage points.
COPY http://www.nbcnews.com
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